Second Jet Jam Attracts 42,000+, Offers 'Right Mix' For Diverse Crowd

BY Rob Evans
Jet Jam "97, the second go at converting the land surrounding Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim (Calif.) into the site of an end-of-summer festival featuring outdoor sports and entertainment, posted attendance of more than 42,000.
The event, produced by Ogden Facility Management and Atherton Communications, took place Aug. 15-17.
Jet Jam "96 drew more than 45,000, but Tim Ryan, the Pond"s assistant general manager, said he thinks all parties involved, from sponsors to spectators, considered the event a success.
"I say to every arena that is out there that there really isn"t an idea that is too crazy," Ryan said. "Competition is as high as it has ever been for the entertainment dollar, and summer sports are not a guaranteed solution. The reality is you can go out and create events and try to make them go or run the risk of having a lot of dark days all summer long."
The main event each day was personal watercraft racing, which took place on a temporary lake created by damming a nearby flood control channel and filling it with 20 million gallons of fresh water.
Beach volleyball tournaments, concerts, a water stunt show and wakeboarding competitions were other popular attractions. An hourlong ESPN broadcast of the competition was aired a week after the event, which Ryan said should raise awareness.
"Plus the wakeboarding competition is so hot right now after the X-Games," Ryan said. "From a television standpoint it was great, and from a live spectator"s standpoint, people really got into it."
A carnival, Shamrock Shows, was brought in for the first time. Carnival owner Joe Blash Jr. said he supplied about 18 rides and some games.
"What the carnival did for us was it brought in more kids than we had in 1996," Ryan said. "That was the hope, and I think it achieved that goal. Now what we have to do is make a decision on whether or not it"s the right mix with the wakeboarding, with personal watercraft and with all of the other Gen-X type of entertainment."
Other attractions included the Custom and Classic Car, Truck and Bike Show, Car Audio Sound-Off, Lifestyle Expo, Manufacturers Midway, Food Fair and Xtreme Zone.
Personal watercraft racing began at noon each day and the final concerts concluded at 8:15 p.m. Last year some concerts were held in the arena, but all the action was outside this year.
"You don"t want to take patrons who are attending an outdoor event and ask them to go indoors at the most beautiful time of the day," Ryan said. "It doesn"t make sense in the summertime."
Opening day mainstage performers included Sunchild, Dave Mason and Willie Nelson. Saturday (16) was dubbed "Surf Saturday" and featured the music of The Torquays, Dick Dale, Mike Love & Bruce Johnson of the Beach Boys and the Kokomo Clubhouse Band. Sunday"s line-up included Common Sense, Dogstar (featuring Keanu Reeves on bass), Buck-O-Nine and Reverend Horton Heat.
"What we don"t want to have is an event where people look at it and say, "Been there, done that," Ryan said. "We want to book talent that is timely, and we want to book events that are timely and do it all at an affordable price."
General admission tickets were $13 in advance and $15 at the gate on Friday (15), and $15 advance and $17 at the gate on Saturday and Sunday. Last year GA passes didn"t allow access to some concerts and water events.
"Surprisingly, we did a considerable amount of sales prior to the event," Ryan said. "Traditionally a general admission show is 100% walk-up. Certainly we had more walk-up this year than in our inaugural year."

(c) BPI Communications Inc., 1997 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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